Advanced Cultures
2024-02-23 11:01:10 UTC
ATLANTA â The firing of a Georgia teacher who read a book on gender
fluidity to her fifth grade class was upheld Thursday by the Georgia
Board of Education.
Katie Rinderle had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into
trouble in March for reading the picture book âMy Shadow Is Purpleâ
by Scott Stuart at Due West Elementary School, after which some
parents complained.
The case in suburban Atlantaâs Cobb County drew wide attention as a
test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a
school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto
instruction they dislike. It also came amid a nationwide
conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ subjects in
school.
Rinderle has maintained that the book was about inclusivity. She was
fired in August, and filed an appeal the next month.
At their meeting Thursday, the state board voted unanimously to
affirm the Cobb County School Boardâs decision without discussing
it, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Cobb County adopted a rule barring teaching on controversial issues
in 2022, after Georgia lawmakers earlier that year enacted laws
barring the teaching of âdivisive conceptsâ and creating a parentsâ
bill of rights. Rinderleâs attorneys said a prohibition of
âcontroversial issuesâ is so vague that teachers can never be sure
whatâs banned.
In its 21-page review, the board found that Cobb Countyâs policies
are not âunconstitutionally vague,â and that her firing was not a
âpredetermined outcome.â
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/georgia-board-upholds-
firing-teacher-reading-book-gender-identity-fift-rcna140084
fluidity to her fifth grade class was upheld Thursday by the Georgia
Board of Education.
Katie Rinderle had been a teacher for 10 years when she got into
trouble in March for reading the picture book âMy Shadow Is Purpleâ
by Scott Stuart at Due West Elementary School, after which some
parents complained.
The case in suburban Atlantaâs Cobb County drew wide attention as a
test of what public school teachers can teach in class, how much a
school system can control teachers and whether parents can veto
instruction they dislike. It also came amid a nationwide
conservative backlash to books and teaching about LGBTQ subjects in
school.
Rinderle has maintained that the book was about inclusivity. She was
fired in August, and filed an appeal the next month.
At their meeting Thursday, the state board voted unanimously to
affirm the Cobb County School Boardâs decision without discussing
it, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Cobb County adopted a rule barring teaching on controversial issues
in 2022, after Georgia lawmakers earlier that year enacted laws
barring the teaching of âdivisive conceptsâ and creating a parentsâ
bill of rights. Rinderleâs attorneys said a prohibition of
âcontroversial issuesâ is so vague that teachers can never be sure
whatâs banned.
In its 21-page review, the board found that Cobb Countyâs policies
are not âunconstitutionally vague,â and that her firing was not a
âpredetermined outcome.â
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-news/georgia-board-upholds-
firing-teacher-reading-book-gender-identity-fift-rcna140084